Business owners on West Washington Street say they’ve just about lost patience with multiple street closures and are upset they received such short notice about the latest work.

They got emails late last week, they said, informing them the street would be closed starting Monday for three to six weeks for stormwater drainage repairs.

“It’s been pretty hurtful to us,” Jose Moncada, owner of recently opened East Coast Taco Company, said Wednesday. It was especially disappointing after the restaurant did booming business last week, mostly to customers who said they found the eatery by driving by, only to be blindsided with this week’s street closure, he said.

The email informing him of the closure came Thursday, he added.

Across the street on Wednesday, Serendipity salon owner LaTroy Brinkley was serving his second client of the day at 3:45 p.m. It’s usually one of his busiest days, he said.

“It’s been hell,” he said. “I don’t think the city’s offered as much help as they could have.”

The city has placed signs and paid for newspaper advertisements saying the businesses are still open. It also issued a press release Wednesday announcing a contest for anyone who visits one of the businesses, takes a photo and uploads it to the “Love Local, Buy Suffolk” Facebook page.

Deputy City Manager Patrick Roberts says this was the best time to do the work, before Monument Construction’s 68 loft apartments and several retail spaces become occupied, because waiting until after the opening would affect even more people.

The work is replacing and re-routing stormwater drains that are more than 100 years old. The project has been needed for some time, he said.

“We’re trying to finish a project that’s been on the books, and we’ve never had a chance to do it,” Roberts said. “With so much vacancy on the south side of the street, this is the ideal time to do it. Once we get another 68 apartments, I don’t know there will ever again be an appropriate time to do it.”

Roberts acknowledged the business owners have withstood several protracted street closures in the last several years, including work related to the Monument project that had the street closed most of January. The gas company also did some work recently with “little or no notice,” Roberts noted.

The good news is that this is the last time the city anticipates having to work on the street for the foreseeable future. They’ve also notified private utilities they should do any work needed in the area now. The city will repave West Washington once this round of work is done, Roberts noted.

“That’s why we’re doing so much now, because I’d like to see that block 100 percent occupied in the near future with shops and residents, and that would be a real challenge to get into that environment,” he said.

But business owners still are upset with the timing and say they think at least one lane should be opened when there’s no work going on, as was the case Wednesday afternoon.

“It’s putting a damper in my business, because this is Easter season,” said Stephanie Mitchell of Stephanie’s Fashion Boutique, which sells women’s church attire. “I asked if they could open one side, but no one has responded.”

Further down at Brandon House Furniture, David Carter said he’s losing business, too.

“It’s going to be good when it’s finished,” he said. “But you’ve got to use a little bit more courtesy. When you can open it up, open it up.”